Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Begin with completed basil walnut pesto and measured homemade butter. Weigh the chicken. Fillet thick breasts horizontally into thinner, even pieces as needed, pat the surfaces dry, and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat the skillet over medium-high heat and melt the measured butter. Add the chicken before the butter becomes dark or smoky. Arrange in a single layer with room around the pieces. Cook in batches if crowded, dividing the measured butter between them.
- Cook until the underside develops a golden color, then turn with tongs and brown the other side. Adjust the heat if the butter or surface is darkening too quickly. Check pieces individually because different thicknesses finish at different times.
- Check the thickest center with a food thermometer, inserting from the side for a thin fillet. Cook to 165°F (about 74°C) before removing from the pan. The outside should be browned without a burned crust; color alone is not the center check.
- Move the cooked chicken to a clean plate. Spoon prepared basil walnut pesto onto the portions to taste after the chicken leaves the skillet. Keep the sauce and its olive oil out of the hot cooking pan.
- Serve with mixed greens and tomatoes if desired. Keep unused pesto separate and refrigerated. Refrigerate leftover chicken promptly; reheat meat thoroughly and add its pesto after it leaves the heat.
Notes
Ready ingredients: Begin with completed basil walnut pesto and homemade unsalted butter. Their separate preparation is not included in the chicken cooking time.
Timing and yield: Allow about ten minutes preparation and twenty minutes cooking as planning estimates, or longer for additional pan batches. Makes one batch from the displayed chicken weight, not a fixed number of breasts or cooked-weight portions.
Chicken: Fillet thick breasts into even pieces as needed. Brown both sides without burning. Check the thickest center at 165°F (about 74°C), adjusting heat as needed; the number of minutes and surface color do not replace the center check.
Pesto: Spoon onto the cooked chicken after it leaves the skillet, keeping its olive oil unheated. Use to taste; the whole pesto batch is not required.
GAPS: Full GAPS after ordinary butter and the prepared pesto ingredients have been introduced. The sauce is dairy-free, but this chicken recipe contains butter and walnuts. Egg-free; not No-Plant.
Storage: Refrigerate cooked chicken promptly and use within three to four days. Fresh pesto has a three-day refrigerator limit from its preparation. Use assembled leftovers within the shorter remaining time. Keep sauce separate when reheating meat, which should reach 165°F before serving.
Scaling: 2× doubles the chicken and total butter. Salt, pepper, and prepared pesto remain to taste. Use enough pan space or cook in batches; keep the same center-temperature and unheated-pesto cues.